The Wild Atlantic

Hurricane Leslie on the Outer Banks. This swell was pretty weird. It was too long of a period for most of the island with the typical spots being closed out. There was one exception, though: a stretch of beach that went mental for a few days straight. This particular frame is from the tail end of it. Most of the surf world had already headed north and there was just a few of us left. The lighting this evening was the best I've seen in a while. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

This is Delmarva standout and good ol' boy Colin Herlihy cutting through the fog at his homebreak.Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

We've spent A LOT of time over the past few years exploring close to home. There are some incredible waves but it’s also incredibly fickle. You really have to put the time in if you want to score around here. Raven Lundy enroute to his own island.Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

Raven's had this shot in his head since the first time we set foot on this island. Years ago the whole island caught fire and left all these crazy looking dead trees. It has fully regrown since then but the trees remain. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

The Outer Banks is an amazing place. You can pull off and possibly find world class waves at any turn. It’s so wide open and constantly changing. This is a random north swell hitting a random sandbar on the side of the road. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

I've never met anyone like Bryce. He's full throttle 24/7. He loves to party, never sleeps, and absolutely rips. He's probably the best aerial guy I've seen in person and no-one even knows who he is. He surfs to have fun and couldn't care less what people think of him. Straight from the bar and into the surf before the sun comes up and it’s only waist high. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

Tyler Balaks, another character. How many 30 year old surfers do you know that have a doctorates and teach chemistry at a university? Somehow he finds the time to surf as much as anyone else, maybe more. This is just another small day at home in between swells. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

Back to the banks for another day during Leslie. It was far from perfect but there were some incredible waves sneaking through. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

Black Friday in Delmarva. It seems like every week there’s another swell popping up somewhere. Raven Lundy puts the time in and gets the pay off. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

The boys gearing up for this crazy outer wave that kind of showed up out of nowhere. While checking the usual spot, we noticed this cloudbreak-like wave keep hitting a bar about 200 or so yards out in the middle of Oregon Inlet (The most dangerous and sharky inlet on the coast). Now dubbed "Crums", it looked like an illusion. Noah Snyder said he saw it break once in the early 90's but never saw anyone surf it. We launched the ski and when we showed up we found Joey Crum sitting out in the lineup all alone. He too saw the wave and decided to paddle out through the inlet and had been surfing this wave by himself for an hour or so. It’s hard to illustrate how gnarly that really is but if you've been to the banks then you have an idea. Joey Crum absolutely charges. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

Noah Snyder slotted on a small one at Crums. Unfortunately I only had a small window to shoot so it was hard to show how good this wave really was. Maybe in another 15 years we'll surf it again. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

Back home again for some downtime. Tyler and I going for something different. I really like how the light hits the spray but you can still make out the surfer. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

This is another shot from the Black Friday swell in Delmarva. I filmed for most of the time but still managed to snap a few stills. Colin Herlihy in another sick one. You'll be able to see the video from this swell here on The Inertia soon. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

We were in Atlantic City for a buddy’s bachelor party when we saw this little blob pop up on the maps way up north. We were already six hours in the right direction so we decided to chase it. The swell wasn't big enough for the usual spots but we ended up scoring this insane random rock slab. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

It’s crazy how quick the ocean can change. We were watching this wave for a while and it was only chest high and closing out. We were bummed because we drove all this way to get skunked. The water color was beautiful though, and different than anything we're used to, so we decided to try and get a few shots. By the time we got out there the tide had filled in and the wave turned on. Raven Lundy pulling in to the slab of his dreams. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

Although the season brought tons of good surf it also brought destruction. As surfers, we benefit from these storms so it’s important to lend a hand to the people on the other side of it. There are still people in need so if you can help at all please do so. A little bit goes a long way. Photo: Eddie Compo/TheWildLyfe

In the last handful of months, the East Coast saw the best run of surf in recent history. I’ve traveled nonstop, logged thousands of road miles this season and still wasn’t able to be at each swell. I have been a part of some pretty incredible moments though, and what you’ll find here is a collection of my favorites.